


the warmth under my skin

by pikwanchu



Series: skin of the wolf [2]
Category: NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pack Dynamics, Pack feelings, daddys girl yeri uwu, high school problems, johndo is in the background tho but yeri talks about them a lot, just a feel good fic to take away some of the anger i caused w the sotw finale hehe, mama's boy jeno perhaps?, pack puppies jenri, the genre is: slice of life, this is kind of like an exploration of the lore?, werewolf problems too, yeri pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:48:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikwanchu/pseuds/pikwanchu
Summary: “You don’t have to do this, you know?” he suddenly said, and she shifted slightly, looking at him, “This whole… Pack thing. You can just go with your friends.” he shrugged, “I won’t get mad.”Yeri fake gasped, chopsticks resting on her lower lip, before rolling her eyes at him, and going back to her meal.“I’m not sure they’re even my friends.” she primly said, and mentally added I’m not sure they ever were.Pack life isn't easy, Yeri began noticing, but it's worth it. She just wished all of them felt the same.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Yeri & Jeno
Series: skin of the wolf [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045170
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	the warmth under my skin

It was in the middle of Social Studies, the first class they had during Fridays, that she saw the first snowflake of the season make its way down from the clouded sky. It made a discontinuous trail down, no wind to push it to any direction, almost lazily, like it had no rush.

Still, the sight of it made Yeri’s eyebrows arch in silent surprise.

The rest of her face continued neutral, though, half hidden behind her palm, bored as she felt, bored enough to stare at the same park she’d been seeing for the entire year instead of paying attention to whatever Mrs. Jo was trying to squeeze into their brains. It wasn’t like it was her first time seeing snow fall. It wasn’t even the first time she’d caught the first snowflake of the year.

Still, she found herself elbowing the boy next to her, calling his attention and pointing at the delicate flask still floating down when he stared at her with big, confused and bored eyes, as bored as hers.

The boy caught sight of it as it landed in the middle of the school’s front garden, right before the ancient tree where the football team hung around, and dedicated her a tight lipped smile, just as unvexed as her, but slightly more optimistic about it.

“Mr. Lee-“, the teacher suddenly called, startling Jeno back to the class. “Tell us about the main districts in Seoul.”

Yeri’s hand shoot secretly under their shared desk, swiftly catching the pen that had managed to roll off in Jeno’s startled flail, as he stuttered a reply back to Mrs. Jo. She couldn’t help to roll her eyes, he was still a bit too suck up, and still a bit too easily shaken for someone who has been in the pack for some months now.

It was incomprehensible to her, she thought, as she appreciated the lack of concern that adults who weren’t family or their pack provoked on her. Not that she had ever been too docile, but at least now that she could turn into a giant animal and could fight other big animals like her, in perspective, getting a glare from her teacher’s assistant didn’t intimidate her much anymore.

That was one of the many changes she’d been appreciating as of late.

The bell signaling lunch rang three times, as it was mandatory, and as she finished putting her things back into her bag, her eyes looked up to find Jimin and Minjeong right next to her desk, looking at her. Minjeong had her arms crossed, but the way her heart beat gave away the slight hidden anxiety Yeri had always suspected was to her. Jimin, on the other side, was calm and uninterested as always, her eyes falling half opened and dull.

Yeri saw Jeno squirreling away from them, as he did from everyone, hurrying out of the class, but her eyes shoot back to the pair when Jimin cleared her throat.

Yeri didn’t speak, but let her eyebrows rise in impatience, waiting for them to say whatever they’d come to say.

Jimin opened her mouth, but was quickly interrupted as Minjeong all but vomited her words.

“Are you dating the outsider?”

This made Yeri’s eyebrows fall into a frown, right before her face shriveled in distaste.

“Doyoung is _Korean_.” she said, voice falling into a flippant tone, “And no, I’m not.”

She felt a shiver almost run down her back as the ridiculous imagery of it involuntarily came into her mind. It was almost disgusting, almost as if they were asking if she was dating her own father.

“We saw you walking by the arm the other day,” Jimin said, ever so calm. Ever so cold, “You were coming out of Old Joo’s.”

She rolled her eyes, as she remembered that day well, remembering how she jumped around the older man, acting extra peppy about him buying her favorite cookie dough, trying to pull a smile from him. God knew he needed one of those.

“He’s like a brother”, she dismissed, deciding it was just one of those pack things people couldn’t really understand, “And dating Johnny.”

 _And they are like my freaking parents_ , she thought, but didn’t say.

This made Minjeong’s mouth fall closed, surprised. It’s not like Johnny exactly tried to hide it, passing an arm around Doyoung’s waist every time they were out, opening and closing doors for him, kissing the crown of his head from time to time. Yeri knew that the publicness of their relationship would increase as Doyoung’s comfort with it grew. It was only question of time until Johnny cornered him against the town’s hall front wall and tried to make out with him, like a stupidly horny teenager. His alpha could be embarrassing like that, she felt.

“And him?” Jimin interrupted her thoughts, sharp eyes falling for a second on Jeno’s chair. “Are you dating him?”

Yeri scoffed, “Another brother.”

“You have many brothers.” the taller girl observed, a streak of meanness hidden beneath her words, “None of them related.”

Yeri felt her muscle’s tense, fangs begging to fall, nails digging her own palm in closed fists, as the spark of rage ignited in her stomach. It was the familiar type of fire, the fire that had her turning without her consent at the least convenient moments, and some sort of alarm ignited in her. No. She needed to calm down.

She closed her eyes ( _See, brain? I’m closing my eyes. We’re not in danger._ ), and swallowed, before opening them again and looking straight into hers.

“Some of us can actually have male friends, Jimin.” she stated, and her eyes shifted towards the other girl, “Boys want some of us around them.”

This made the slightest bit of emotion show in the tallest girl’s face, while Minjeong’s lips turned into a thin line.

“Funny how you wouldn’t have said that, like, at the beginning of the year.” Minjeong flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, and the thin line curled into a smile that was almost malicious, like she’d caught her red-handed. “What changed?”

Yeri fixed her with a bored gaze. “I changed.”

Lifting her backpack over her shoulder, she decided she was completely done with the conversation, pushed between the two girls, more as a dominance display than anything else, and exited the classroom in a normal pace. She let her nose identify the trails of scent around her, trying to find the one that smelled most familiar to her, the one that would lead her to her pack mate.

Once she found it, it took her merely seconds until she was walking down the back of the school’s stairs, and sitting next to him.

Jeno sighed, not dedicating her even a look, as he dug around the lunchbox on his knees. Yeri ignored him, already used to the boy’s sudden mood swings, and opened her own lunchbox on her lap. Despite wearing only her uniform skirt, the cold that the snow around them brought barely bothered her. Another one of the good changes.

“You don’t need to do this, you get it, right?” he suddenly said, and she shifted slightly, looking at him, “This whole… Pack thing. You can just go with your friends.” he shrugged, “I won’t get mad.”

Yeri fake gasped, chopsticks resting on her lower lip, as if she was offended, as if she didn’t know he’d heard the entire conversation she’d held with them, before rolling her eyes at him, and going back to her meal.

“I’m not sure they’re even my friends.” she primly said, and mentally added _I’m not sure they ever were._ Two memories came to her mind, simultaneously: first, Herin’s last day in the town, the departure of her first and only childhood friend, and then, the happiness she felt the first day Jimin and Minjeong approached her, the day after Jongin first had come to pick her. She swallowed the bile of hurt that ran down her stomach along with the bite of Doyoung’s manju in her mouth.

“Let’s go to the lake later.”, Jeno’s voice startled her, bringing her out of her thoughts after a long time of silence. “I want to see the snow.”

The girl’s eyes fell on him, on the way he was strictly only looking ahead, on the embarrassment the boy exuded, and felt a knowing smile stretching her lips. She hadn’t done a bad trade in the friends’ department.

“Give me your manjus and you’ll get a yes.”

“What?! No! These are mine!”

Jeno stopped the bicycle in front of the cemetery, and gave her a few seconds to get down. As she stretched her legs, the slight weariness of an entire school day weighting down on her, Jeno hid the bike almost jealously, too jealously for the old thing it was.

“We run to the south east and meet on that shore, okay?”

Jeno nodded with a yes, and they respectively went on opposite directions to hide from the other in a silent agreement, as they began pulling off their clothes. Yeri knew that the others had already developed the sort of indifference to naked human skin that their wolf part dictated to them, but she (and Jeno) wasn’t quite there yet. There was still something embarrassing to it, not about the skin or nakedness itself, but about how vulnerable she suddenly felt when air hit her straight.

If she gave herself two seconds to think about it, thought, she sided with her wolf’s point of view better. After all, when she was in all fours, she was just as naked as she was seconds before transforming, except much less hairy. She now understood why dogs would get so depressed when their owners shaved them for the summer, less hair meant more vulnerability. It wasn’t just for vanity, it was… comfort.

As soon as she hung her clothes in a branch, surely safe away from the dirt that would make her mother screech, she closed her eyes and breathed in hard.

After months of doing it nearly every day, it wasn’t hard to reshape. She found the small fire within her, an emotionless fire she could control, and let it torch her over. Her muscles tensed, tore and burnt. She felt her bones reaccomodating themselves, growing, popping in that revolting way that clicked in her eardrums. She felt her skin itching, itching, itching, and before she knew it, dirt was touching her paws, claws digging into it, and she shook the itch off.

Luckily, the transformation didn’t hurt anymore. It was still just… uncomfortable.

She wandered back to the tree where her clothes were left and grabbed them, now tall enough in two legs to reach to the branch easily by leaning on the trunk. Carefully, she tucked them between her teeth, trying to not break the cloth of her uniform, as she heard a howl in the distance. She gave a howl back, the sound escaping through her busy muff, and without any more delay, she launched herself to the run.

She let a delighted whine out as she began feeling her heart racing, her breath picking. Her muscles began burning, a good burn, happy at being used, extorted, happy at her for allowing them to explore their own strength.

Ever since she’d come into her transformation, running had turned into her favorite activity. Running, sparring, jumping, all of that felt like a huge stress relief, like her body was thanking her for finally being used to its purpose. In four legs, her body begged her to let the steam out, and in two, more often than not, she felt jittery with the energy she had to keep inside.

She heard Jeno’s long leaps close by and changed her course, now running full force towards him. She let out an excited yip, letting Jeno know it was her, and he let out an annoyed growl in response, not liking where this was going.

As soon as she could spot him, a big brownish shape, she dropped her clothes somewhere and chased at him. The shape began being harder to spot, Jeno zigzagging between the trees to confuse her, growling again. He didn’t like sparring too much, still too afraid of hurting her, but she couldn’t care less. She was feeling playful, all of a sudden, and if Jeno had to be his victim, then so be it.

She decided to double on her speed, paws merely scratching the mudded dirt, and began getting closer, closer, closer until..!

A crash, and she was suddenly pushed by the strength of it towards a tree. She fell down, barely hurt, shook herself, and found him staring at her in worry, muff down, ears flat, and she barked, almost laughing. Stupid boy, it took more than that to stop her.

It took them who knows how many time until they finally felt somewhat worn, tired after growling, biting, pushing at each other, chasing each other through the woods like puppies. They finally made their way to the lake walking, breaths still ragged, clothes secured in their muffs, and as soon as they arrived, they parted in opposite directions to get dressed.

When she walked back, she saw Jeno already there, feet dipped into the water, staring at it, and she walked up to him.

“There’s fish.” he dumbly explained, even though he seemed weirdly fascinated by them. She looked down and saw them, circling just next to Jeno’s feet, pushing at each other, trying to eat from some sort of corpse of another fish, judging by the smell. They glinted in silvers under the sun, still trying hard to shine between the thick clouds and the upcoming dawn.

“Wanna catch some?” she found herself saying, finding herself just as interested as him. There was something about their movements, so desperate and agitated, that held her interest.

“We don’t have any rods.” he stated, nearly not paying attention, and she couldn’t help to roll her eyes.

“If only we had something sharp and fast with ourselves at all times, right?”

She raised her hand and let her muscles tense, feeling for a hot second the pain of her claws breaking through the beds of her fingers, and that weird feeling of the skin healing itself back around them, bones rearranging and twisting halfway into their position when she shifted fully. Jeno rolled his eyes behind it and did it himself.

As they caught them, trying to be careful to not do more than scratching off a few scales, she couldn’t help to let her mind wander to when she first turned, to how patient Johnny had been in teaching her control.

 _“It’s a reflex, the claws, the fangs.”_ he had said, raising his hand in front of her, _“Like your muscles tensing when you’re in danger. That’s your body reacting to what your brain tells it. And just like you can tell your muscles to tense at will”_ , he let his claws, grow from under his skin, horrifying and mystifying her at the same time, _“you can tell them to come out.”_

She remembered being scared at first, as she knew they literally had to break the skin to come out, too afraid of the pain. Still, Johnny had stayed the entire night with her, in her living, under her mother’s worried gaze. She could feel Johnny was more serious than anything, but he still tried to joke about it with her mom, making small talk, easing her into it. After all, she was the first wolf in her family, even though she’d known about Jongin and her uncle, his dad, who were both wolves.

She quickly ran away from that train of thought, refusing to remember how much distance her mother had put between them ever since she had began turning. She didn’t need to remember yet another person who was pulling away.

When the sun began setting, Jeno stood up from his crouching position and dusted off his pants. She could hear the beginning his hunger in his stomach, in the way it was lowly complaining.

“Let’s head home,” he simply said and she just nodded, feeling quieter.

The walk back was made in two legs, slowly, enjoying the view. The snow that had fallen before still decorated some trees, sharply standing out against the deep green that the pine trees and bushes could get to.

The contrast was even more starking now that it had ever been, with her sharper view. She could see the detail in every snow pile, every small lump and shadow, she could see the light reflecting against it like a million diamonds. The trees, now showered in white, didn’t become a shapeless clump the further she looked anymore, she could distinguish each, and she could also see the squirrel running into a hollowed out trunk, and those two wagtails about to dispute some sort of insect.

However, it wasn’t what she could see what caught her attention the most, but what she could smell.

“Snow smells…” she began, mindlessly, and the boy next to her turned as he kept walking, “It smells.”

A small smile pulled from the corners of Jeno’s lips, “Yeah.”

“It’s like….”

“Like freezers.” he completed for her. “It reminds me of when I have to restock the freezers, you know, all the frozen food and…”

Yeri feels a laugh exploding from her lips, more out of shock than anything else, because he was right. It smelled like freezers. It smelled like _cold_ , of _ice_ , if this ice had bits of bark, earth, leaves and who knows what else inside. 

When she had first shifted, the shock of superior senses had left her overwhelmed; she’d even worried about not being able to adapt to them. But now, as she was able to perceive, to notice, to analyze so much in the forest, as she was able to feel part of it, she could only continue to get wondered by them.

Before they knew it, they had reached the distinct trees that surrounded Doyoung’s house, and they could immediately hear him coming outside to greet them, the creak of the door never being quite silent enough, no matter how much they lubricated it.

As soon as he was in sight, Jeno trotted to meet him in a hug. The older took it, hugging him back with only just a little awkwardness to it. Jeno held him for a bit longer than it was strictly necessary and Yeri rolled her eyes at it. He was still so needy.

As soon as Jeno freed him, Doyoung’s eyes posed on her and reached out to her head, to pet her hair. At his touch, Yeri felt herself melting into something that made her press him between her arms, just like Jeno had done, and soon she felt him hugging back.

For all she loved Doyoung’s hugs, she was still not as bold as Jeno was to start them. When Doyoung hugged her, she felt safe, secure. Between his arms, she felt like nothing could hurt her without him jumping to her protection. She felt considered and cared for.

It was embarrassingly similar to what she used to feel when she was a little girl, and the one hugging her was her mom.

“There’s hotpot tonight” Doyoung mentions, as she unglues herself from him, feeling even more content. The oldest began walking back inside, and they wordlessly followed in tow, taking off their shoes as they walked into the house.

Yeri had memories of having visited this house before, back when she was still a child. Her uncle, Jongin’s dad had died along with other adults, and the funeral ceremony was to be held in that house. Back then she hadn’t known how or why these adults passed away, she hadn’t been told about the wolves. The house had been full of grief, people with deep dark circles and worried, saddened looks. She remembered running around, trying to find something to do and opening the door to see a teen sitting on a bed, lost, empty eyes staring right ahead. Johnny was so young back then.

Still, despite all of that, the house had felt cozy. And now that it was always busy with young people, even more than back then.

The drill was all too familiar by now, opening the closet under the stairs, getting new socks, getting a sweater (although she didn’t feel the cold as strongly now, it was stupid to deny that feeling warm didn’t make her feel better). Johnny had had that idea, of telling them to leave a change of clothes in there, a place in their home just for them. It was convenient, seeing as most of the pack somehow ended up landing there more than once a week. Yeri wondered if they were ever alone, as she pushed into a sock.

Jeno was already in the kitchen, eyeing curiously the efficient way Doyoung was peeling the potatoes, when she got there. She took a knife herself and joined them.

Jeno, as he usually did, turned on his peppy mode and began chattering Doyoung’s ear off, and she chimed in herself. They could tell Doyoung enjoyed it, though, as he nodded along to every word, and the corners of his lips were softly lifted.

Jeno liked talking about everything that came to his mind, and it had surprised her back then how much he could find to say: from his personal opinions on every teacher, to the vet course he was going to begin as soon as he graduated, to the movie he wanted to watch next to the book Doyoung had recommended him to read. It was curious, particularly, because this was not the silent, distant Jeno she had met in all of her years of schooling.

Yeri often found herself more quiet at those moments, almost fascinated at the way the guy could go on and on, and also, perhaps, because she hadn’t figured out what she wanted Doyoung to know about herself yet. After finally being able to join the pack, she felt like all of her life happened around them, anyway, so it’s not like she could tell Doyoung something someone else hadn’t told him already.

She found that she didn’t mind this much, and she’d even go as far to say that she kind of enjoyed this familiarity. Before, she hadn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, feeling even a bit guilty about not even thinking of moving away, unlike most teens from Neukddomyeon. Now it made sense. This was her land. She had a role to fulfill; she had a place to take care of.

Still, she tried to add her own commentary every now and then. Just to spice things up, to not let Jeno have his way.

All the vegetables were cut and ready to be thrown into the brew when Jongin walked in like he owned the place, bag with the meat to add along in his hands. He was whistling, as he always did, and there was a smile in his face.

“Guess what Yunho waltzed in with today.” was the way he greeted them, all mischief no malice. He placed a little kiss on the crown of her head, rustled Jeno’s hair and plopped himself on one of the kitchen’s chairs. “A brand new Sssangyeon Musso, ready to get calibrated by me.”

Jongin loved to gossip about cars like they were affairs, and that had always kind of made her laugh. It was easy to share his enthusiasm when he told things like that like the cop was cheating on his wife with it. Not that Yunho had a wife, or a previous car for that matter.

Doyoung’s eyebrows twisted in confusion, and that released the monster in Jongin, as he began one of his hour long explanations about car models. Doyoung seemed like he appreciated them as well.

After a while, the table was served, and Doyoung was just pouring the brew in one of the heated pots when she smelled first, then heard, then saw their alpha finally getting home after a long day. He took off his boots, and as he looked up and found them all wandering around the table, she felt the tension leaving him, a big smile spreading in his lips. His pack was home, waiting for him.

Yeri found herself walking out of the kitchen after Johnny greeted her with a pat on her head, and throwing Jeno a look to do the same. Jeno got up as well, although unwilling, as he followed her. Jongin was already turning on the TV.

It was almost an unspoken rule that the alpha couple needed some privacy every now and then. Or at least the sense of it, since if she focused, she could probably hear everything that they’d say.

Yeri shoved Jeno down the couch, next to her, and glared at his scowl.

She understood Jeno’s anger towards Johnny, she guessed. The way Johnny had proceeded with Doyoung had definitely been on the effed up side of the scale, and the result of it still weighted on them, upstairs. He had thrown him into this life, a life full of dark corridors and quicksands, where they were to rely on each other, where they needed to work as one to survive.

But she could also understand that he trying to do his best. And she could see how Doyoung becoming one of them had been the best. For the pack, for Johnny, even for himself. She felt that Johnny still put the pack’s needs first, although according to Jeno the pack’s needs and his own personal needs were suspiciously interlaced.

Still, she could also feel Johnny’s adoration towards him, towards Doyoung. It was in the way his scent shifted into delight whenever he allowed his touch, in the way it softened whenever he saw him taking care of them. It was in the way Doyoung could convince him of anything, _anything_ , and no other word would be true.

In a way, Johnny had given Doyoung a great power, greater than it seemed. And Doyoung was perfect in the sense that she knew, something in her told her, that he’d never take advantage of it. Of them.

She just wondered when Doyoung would stop hating Johnny, so they could all finally be a bonded pack.

The girl was pulled out of her thoughts, suddenly, when she heard Jeno huffing next to her, rolling his eyes.

She elbowed him, “Stop eavesdropping!”

His only response was a swift look and him removing on his place, getting more comfortable, as he continued to eavesdrop.

Dinner would have been a fairly silent affair was it not for Jongin’s constant chatty mood. The man did talk less whenever Johnny was around, Yeri guessed, in the same way as her instinct told her, because he wouldn’t want to speak over the alpha, but that didn’t mean he went tombstone silent. Instead, he did a good job asking Johnny how his day had been, allowing an opening for him to tell stories about his work and such.

Doyoung, as he had been ever since he had turned, had been sitting next to him; he indeed was tombstone silent. Although to be honest, he hadn’t ever been a chatterbox in the first place, at least as far as she had been able to know him.

After they were all done, they all hurried to leave the dishes on the dishwasher and to the living-room, with the VHS Jongin had set up ready for them. As each chose their place, Yeri had the sudden urge to sit close to Doyoung, to feel his warmth next to her, and perhaps lay on his shoulder as they watched. Jeno had been faster than her, though, and hurried to occupy the other side that had been free, since obviously one of the places had been reserved for Johnny.

Ten minutes into whatever James Bond movie her cousin had chosen, the phone rang and Johnny got up to answer. Doyoung stood along, but instead, took the opportunity to announce he was going to make some tea.

“I’ll help you!” she sprung up from her place in one of the small sofas, and trotted a little to catch up.

He thanked her, patting her shoulder and giving her a small smile as they walked into the kitchen. That simple action, that small show of attention, made warmth spread through her chest and she couldn’t help to think how ridiculous she was, how ridiculously cheesy her pack instincts made her.

Back when _the incident_ happened, Yeri had overheard Old Joo talking to Johnny, calming him, after the first couple days. Doyoung wouldn’t stop shaking, wouldn’t speak, eat or even sleep with nobody; he’d only lock himself in that room and obsessively take care of his friend, like a crazy man. In response, she remembered how awful she and Jeno had felt, worried to the core about him like they’d be worried about their own family.

It had been the first time, to her memory, that she truly understood through her feelings what being a pack meant.

She remembered sitting with Jeno for hours next to the door, whining and hugging herself, hoping Doyoung would come out and all of his distress and trauma would disappear, would stop souring his scent. And she remembered Johnny asking about it, and the old woman explaining to him that it was because they were the youngest in the pack and of course, the _puppies_ , obviously they’d feel strongly towards the alpha’s mate. Obviously, they’d worry and defend him.

She remembered how those words stayed floating in her mind, and during all the time she spent sitting there, how they had made a lot of Jeno’s behavior make sense.

Subtly, she walked up next to him and tried stand as close as she could without revealing this embarrassing need for closeness, and began getting the cups, placing them one next to the other, eyes fixed on the task. The sounds of Doyoung working next to her soothed her, made the warmth start spreading again, slowly easing the almost angst she’d fallen earlier in the woods. Something in her that had been whining until then, finally stopped.

“You changed your hair” he suddenly commented, voice soft as always, almost as if he didn’t want to hear himself.

She ran a self-conscious hand down her hair, now shoulder length and back to her natural dark brown, remembering he had seen her a few days before with the new look. However, she also remembered almost the entire pack being there, as well, which ensured no alone time between them. Perhaps that too, factored in her neediness.

“Yeah” she smiled a little, “I realized how ridiculous the blonde streaks looked on Jeno’s mane and I couldn’t let mine…”

This shocked a laugh out of Doyoung, and she felt her smile growing. She’d been able to make him laugh. She was pleased with herself.

“You don’t see a wolf with tomato red fur every day.” he agreed, and laughed some more. She felt a bit of a blush rising to her cheeks, but the little laugh that came out of her hadn’t been forced. She caught him smiling again, but this time to himself, before assuring her with big nods, “I like it. It-it looks great.”

She smiled at him, taking the compliment but not knowing what to do with it, and went back to her task, basking in the small attention he’d given her, feeling almost as if she’d been rewarded. Doyoung was about to pour the tea, water hot and dyed, when suddenly, Johnny’s voice was heard.

“Yeri?” he called from the other room, “Come here.”

Doyoung gave her a look and a small encouraging smile, although the smile didn’t seem too convinced itself, as if telling her to go ahead, he’d take care of the rest of the tea, and she gave one smile back and ran to her alpha. There, he found Jeno, arms crossed like a petulant child, and only half of Johnny’s body, the rest of it rummaging through the pack closet. She could hear him picking things and the sound of fabric being disorganized, and she waited patiently until he was done.

After a while, he came out, a sack bag in hand.

“I’m going to need you two for an important mission” he opened with, sounding more like an appeasing dad than anything else. Yeri felt the need to roll her eyes. “Up north, about three hundred kilometers from the north-korean-russian frontier, in the woods next to a place called Vladivostok, there’s the coven’s house.” Johnny’s eyes kept falling to his hands, as he seemed to be feeling around into the sack, and back to them, as he spoke. ” It’s about… fourteen, fifteen hours from here, with breaks and all. I need you to go there, yeah?”

She felt her eyes growing into full moons, as she heard the details, and stole a quick glance at Jeno, trying to see if he was feeling the same, but the alpha continued talking.

“I’d usually go there myself… They’re- They’ve been allies for a long time, and I have a debt to pay.” his movements suddenly halted, and he bore his eyes into them, into her. “But I want to trust you two with this one. I want you to meet the coven, as well.”

Johnny stopped, still looking at them as if looking for an answer and Yeri found herself looking at Jeno, mouth still gaping. The boy next to her was nearly glaring, though, as if he was about to say no. But then, he turned to her, and nodded.

“Y-yeah. Sure.” she said, and heard him echoing her between his teeth, “But could you- I mean. Won’t we get lost, or… or something?”

A contained smile tried to break from Johnny’s lips, as if he wanted to laugh at her. “Not unless your nose suddenly stops working.”

He suddenly threw the sack at Jeno, who caught it with a scowl. The boy looked briefly into it, and looked back at him.

“Clothes?”

“Ten’s clothes.” he shoot back, like that explained it all”The head of the coven.”

Then, he opened a drawer, and pulling out a map, he began explaining them the route they’d be to take. It was fairly simple, as simple as running on the straightest line they could manage would be, but Yeri was sure it’d be tiresome either way.

As he explained it, they’d have to avoid cities and towns, making most of their run through woods and non urban areas, and they’d actually cross North Korea, where they’d have to be extra careful about never turning into humans. As long as they were animal-looking, North Korean soldiers would leave them alone. Once they got into Russian territory, though, it would be much easier, and that’s where they’d have to start tracking the coven by scent.

“They smell like herbs,” he said, almost in an annoyed sigh, “They smell so much like fucking herbs. You won’t miss it.”

Yeri had to let out a laugh at that and Johnny seemed pleased at it, and she noticed that it had been just like she’d been just moments ago, towards Doyoung. She decided to file that information out to revise it later.

“Can we-“, Jeno began, and suddenly stopped himself, like he forgot for a second that he wanted to act like a brat. However, it was a beat too late, since Johnny’s full attention was on him, looking at him expectantly. “It’s just that…” the boy seemed flustered, out of a sudden, and Yeri thought she knew what he was about to ask. After all, her muscles were also asking her for rest, after all the playing around they’d done earlier. “We went to see the snow today. And we- we ran a lot. And we’re tired, so…”

Johnny seemed to understand what he was getting at, and considered it for a second. “You can nap upstairs. There’s a third room next to the studio, the usual one is…”

“We know”, she hurried to assure. “We’ll do that. Right, Jeno?”

Jeno looked away, instead, and let out an agreement between his teeth once again, like someone was gripping it out of him. Johnny smiled at them, and suddenly added:

“Tell them I told you to stay for the day when you get there, as well.” he had his hands on his hips now, resolute, and her attention snapped back to his words, “The coven has some young members, they must be around your age. Make some friends you don’t have to hide from.”

Yeri found a shy thankfulness and a serious doubt blooming into her at the same time. She was kind of done with making friends outside the pack, for now, she felt.

In response, she just found herself nodding, and much like children, both of them began dragging their feet up the stairs, to the beds.

At around one after dark, when the sky was at its deepest blue, Yeri and Jeno were getting ready to leave on their _mission_. Johnny had given them another run over the map and the routes, and two other bags to hang around their necks, on their wolf shape, to keep clothes with them.

Jeno, of course, between annoyed about being woken up and grumpy at their alpha for whatever cause he chose to be mad at the moment, bearded through it all by showing all of his emotions through squinted eyes.

“You need to stop glaring at Johnny”, she instantly whispered, as soon as they were out of hearing range from the house.

On the woods outside, it was chilly, but a pleasant sort of. There was no wind, quiet as a piece of art, and thanks to her vision she could see the beauty of it even more. She had a lost memory, somewhere, of running around them with Herin, flashlights going on and off, as they chased each other through the scary, dark woods. Now that the barest of the moonbeams allowed her to take them in without difficulty, she could hardly let them keep the ‘scary’ title.

Jeno’s only response to her was a small warning growl, as it always was when she tried to bring up his animosity.

“I’m serious, Jeno”, she suddenly stopped and turned to the guy. She needed to let this out, half because she was tired of that one sided push and pull, and half because she also got into strange moods when she woke up, and this time it was a naggy one, “He’s our alpha, don’t even think about it. You know what happened last time you barked and nobody wants a repeat to that. Stop it.”

Jeno, who had stopped to look at her, simply squinted his eyes and began his stroll once again.

“Do it for the pack!” she found herself shouting after him, as she tried to catch up, “Do it for Doyoung!”

“Whatever”, he responded and even only seeing his back, she could imagine the roll in his eyes. This guy.

She scoffed.

“You know, those are strong looks for the school’s weird loner.”

This made Jeno stop on his tracks. For a hot second, Yeri felt a sharp pang of guilt cutting her in half, until she saw his deadpan expression aiming towards her.

“Says the dog with her tail between her legs of the pack.”

She let out a laugh, and trotted to his side.

“Yeah, but that’s my instinct. You’re… you’re a loner by choice!””, she exclaimed still in a hush, as she began walking again, Jeno accompanying her pace this time, “And I know because I saw Minhyung trying to talk to you in class, and Donghyuck had invited you to his party, and-”

“You don’t have to do that, you know?”

She fell into silence, as Jeno cut her.

“You don’t have to… care. About me. It’s okay, I know we’re pack but it’s okay. It’s the last year of high school, anyway. I don’t mind eating alone.”, his words came out like a dam breaking, almost in the same breath. “You don’t have to be my friend.”

Yeri walked a couple steps, thinking of his words. Thinking about what they meant. Thinking about why he said them. A part of her felt like she had been thinking more these days than she’d ever thought in her whole life. 

“But I’m not your friend.” she finally said.

Like she thought, despite of what he had just said, he went quiet. Hurt. Tense. So, she ran around in front of him, making him stop in surprise before he crashed into her.

“I’m your sister, dumbass.”

And she stuck her tongue at him.

Jeno blinked once, struck, and then his lips pursued, as if containing a smile. He visibly relaxed, and she wondered how long it’d take her to unlock the upbeat personality that only Doyoung could unearth.

“Now, let’s hurry and change.” she passed her arm around his shoulders, patting him, reassuring, “I think it’s gonna snow again.”

**Author's Note:**

> if youre reading this: thank you, i honestly wrote this thinking NOBODY would read it but honestly? i think its time we see some different povs, right?  
> i think yeri's perspective, being a teenager and not having gone through great grief, is very different from the rest, and i was very interested in seeing the whole situation through her eyes, and maybe see more into her and jeno's particular situation within the pack dynamic! in that same vein, i think i also wanted to explore a bit more the dynamics in the pack, how they work, how's the sitaution right now, perhaps dropping a few hints of something (did anyone catch it?)
> 
> thank u for reading and id love to read your thoughts on them!! mwack mwack mwack


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